This week, U.S. regulatory authorities communicated to TerraPower LLC, a nuclear energy company initiated by Bill Gates, that its forthcoming application for a construction permit for an innovative reactor design requires additional preparation.
This feedback potentially indicates a setback for the establishment of the $4 billion Natrium reactor in Wyoming, intended to be situated at a former coal power plant site.
The application for this permit is anticipated to be submitted within the month.
The Natrium reactor represents a class of advanced nuclear reactors that utilize novel materials and types of fuel.
Such reactors have garnered support from the Biden administration as a viable solution for combating climate change, with the U.S. Department of Energy endorsing the Natrium project with a pledge of up to $2 billion from taxpayer funds.
In preparation for its application, TerraPower sought a “pre-application readiness assessment” from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which was delivered in a 40-page document on March 19.
This document outlined various safety and environmental considerations pertinent to the reactor.
However, the NRC’s feedback highlighted multiple instances where TerraPower’s application referred to technical and licensing reports not yet reviewed or currently under examination by the NRC staff.
The NRC’s feedback underscored concerns that references to incomplete reviews might pose a risk to the application’s review schedule.
Edwin Lyman, a physicist and nuclear safety advocate at the Union of Concerned Scientists, criticized the application’s readiness, suggesting TerraPower should invest more time to ensure a comprehensive and high-quality application to avoid potential delays for the Wyoming project.
Contrarily, a spokesperson for TerraPower asserted that the readiness assessment is instrumental in gauging the application’s completeness, expressing confidence in their timeline and their position as the pioneering company to submit a commercial advanced nuclear power reactor application to the NRC.
The NRC’s letter expressed confidence that TerraPower could provide additional information as needed in the formal construction permit application.
However, the review also raised questions about how TerraPower will prove the durability of materials used in the reactor’s construction under extreme conditions throughout its operational lifespan, considering its unique cooling mechanism using liquid sodium instead of water.
Additionally, TerraPower announced a postponement in the Natrium reactor’s operational start to 2030, a delay attributed to challenges in sourcing high assay low enriched uranium (HALEU).
Previously reliant on Russia for HALEU, TerraPower and Centrus Energy Corp are now working towards establishing commercial production capabilities for HALEU to meet the new launch timeline.